This invention relates to a data outputting device suitable, for instance, for transmitting the same data through telephone lines to a number of calling parties in a time division mode.
A system for supplying predetermined information (for instance a weather forecast) to a number of calling parties through telephone lines is known in the art. A sound source for the system is, for instance, a magnetic tape recorder. In response to access made by a calling party, the magnetic tape recorder is operated so that data (message) recorded in the magnetic tape are transmitted through the telephone lines to the calling party.
When access is made by a calling party during the operation of the magnetic tape recorder in response to a prior call, the data transmitted to the calling party often times begins halfway through the message. This difficulty has been eliminated by a method disclosed, for instance, by Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 104358/1982 (the term "OPI" as used herein means an "unexamined published application") in which a plurality of magnetic tape recorders are operated in a time division mode.
However, such a method is disadvantageous in that, because of the provision of a plurality of magnetic tape recorders as sound sources, the system is unavoidably intricate in arrangement and accordingly high in manufacturing cost.